Senate rush to change rules fails

Republicans fall just one vote short as Democrats complain of power grab

By CASEY SEILER State editor

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, January 26, 2011

ALBANY -- An attempt by Senate Republicans to rush through rules changes elicited howls of protest from Democrats before failing -- at least for this week -- because of a GOP senator's absence from a contentious committee meeting.

While most of the measures proposed by Republicans represented minor tweaks to the operation of the chamber, one change stood out: a measure that would deny the lieutenant governor a tie-breaking vote on the chamber's leadership.

The question is especially important in a chamber in which the GOP holds a razor-thin, one-seat majority. If a single seat slips from their grasp, control of a 31-31 Senate could rest on the vote of Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy, a Democrat. Retaining control of the Senate, however narrowly, is viewed by state Republicans as a battle for party survival.

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Democratic Minority Leader John Sampson blasted the GOP's decision to hand over their rules changes -- which amounted to more than 50 pages -- just two hours before Tuesday's session.

"This is nothing but a power grab," Sampson said before lawmakers headed into a Rules Committee meeting to discuss the changes.

But after two tense hours, the GOP failed to gather the votes needed to move their new proposed rules to the Senate floor.

"We had 12, we needed 13," said Sen. Tom Libous, who chairs the committee and serves as Deputy Majority Leader. "I just didn't realize that a member was not present."

The missing GOP senator was Long Island's Kenneth LaValle, who could have merely offered a written vote sheet. The Republicans promised to take up the rules changes next week.

The issue of the lieutenant governor's vote could end up in court, although judges have shown great trepidation at interfering in the rules of a co-equal branch of government. Gov. Andrew Cuomo's spokesman Josh Vlasto did not respond to a request for comment.

The mainline Democrat leadership, which had given the rebel lawmakers lesser committee assignments on Monday, called the GOP's offer nothing less than a quid pro quo for the IDC's members' loyalty.

"It's clear this was never about independence, but power, perks, and now the payoff," said Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran, who noted that the committee that Klein was to chair had been inactive in the Senate for several years.

Klein denied that charge, and IDC spokesman Rich Azzopardi said that several of its members could have held on to higher "lulus" by remaining with the main Democratic conference.

Rick Karlin contributed to this report. Reach Seiler at 454-5619 or cseiler@timesunion.com.